Dog Birthday Party Ideas: A Celebration for Your Babies

It is well known the fact that dogs are man’s best friend but for most of us, dogs are treated as part of the family. These fluffy creatures are like humans, they have their own emotions, but they just can’t speak like we do. Sometimes when we feel stressed, we just need to look, hug or play with them in order to relieve our stress.

Loyalty is what we gain from them as they will always stay by our side even though there are times when we have a hectic schedule and there’s no time left for them. Our tender loving care is the only way to give back for their loyalty and celebrating their birthday is one of these ways. Keep on reading in order to discover a few dog birthday party ideas that will definitely make your pooch feel amazing.

Who to invite?

You can’t call it a party if you don’t have guests! The best idea is to invite a few dogs (with their owners) that your dog knows and sees regularly. These can be your dog’s playmates at the dog park or the sweet and friendly dog next door. Remember not to invite dozens of dogs to the party for it will be hard to organize. Also your dog will definitely want all the attention to himself, since it’s his birthday anyway. However, before you start sending out the invitations, ensure that your dog is friendly towards other dogs. You can start by learning how to socialize your dog.

Ten is the maximum number of dogs that you should invite for the event. Don’t forget when making your list that inviting a dog means you need to invite their human companions too making it two mouths to feed. Asking about the allergies and dietary restrictions for both dogs and their human companions is a must so that you’ll know how much and what kind of food to serve.

Dogs are not our dogs’ only friends; they also have human friends. These people can be your friends that are close to your dog or family friends that have been visiting your house for quite some time.

Don’t even think that you can invite a new dog to your dog’s party; that is a big no! Just think of it this way. If you were the one having a birthday party, you’d just want to invite the people that you know and the ones who are really close to you. Well that’s how it works for your dog too. Inviting a new, strange dog for your dog’s party might start up a potential fight among them. You surely don’t want to mess things up and end the party with dogs fighting on the one corner of your venue.

Party invitations

You need to send out party invitations so your guests will know when and where the party is, and other important information related to the party. There are many ways to invite your guests but the most popular ones are listed below:

E-Vite — You can send the invitations via email.

Phone Call — Since there are only a few of them, calling would not be hard and you will be able to get a direct answer.

Mail — If you want it to be traditionally, then you should send it via mail.

Choosing the right theme

Having a theme for a birthday party is a must and you should put it on your list. Preparing the theme will help you think about things you need to buy for your party and the decorations for your venue. You need to think of a fun and creative theme. Being with your dog since the day he was born, you know him better than anyone. Since you know your dog, you know the things he likes the most so let that be the basis of your theme.

For example, is your baby Shih Tzu the only princess in the family? Is she very sweet and playful? Why not throw her a regal themed party, let her dress as a princess dog wearing a splendid princess gown. Don’t forget to tell the other dog owners you are inviting to let their babies dress up for the event base on the theme that you are having.

Where’s the party?

It’s also important that you pick the right location as you plan your dog’s birthday party. Do you want the party to happen inside your house or in other places? If you want to have the celebration outside your house, the local dog park in your community can be a good choice. However, if you are planning to have the party there, you will need to book a reservation. Don’t forget to book ahead of time – you don’t want any delays!

If your backyard is big enough, why don’t you celebrate your dog’s party there? As long as the place is surrounded by gates and fences that prevents your dog and his other dog guests to escape, then it can be a good idea. It’s also better to have the celebration in the backyard if not all attending dogs are potty trained.

Some dogs will surely poop during the course of the celebration and it’s harder to clean the inside of the house than the backyard. If you do choose to have your dog’s birthday party in your backyard, let your neighbours know ahead of time. Not only is that the respectful thing to do, you don’t want angry neighbors crashing on your dog’s day, do you?

Remember to prepare the location ahead of time. Place plenty of water bowls in accessible corners of your chosen location. Make sure these water bowls are checked and refilled regularly; you don’t want to see any dogs fainting in your party because of dehydration. Aside from that, place food and water stations for the human guests, too. After all, the dogs aren’t the only guests in the party.

Food menu

There would be two kinds of food needed for your party – dog food and human food – since you’ll have both humans and dogs attend. The dogs would be the main focus of the party but you still need to provide something for your human guests, even though they do not require a lot of extravagant foods. Just give them light snacks and drinks that are enjoyable and tasty enough for them to adopt the celebratory cheer of the occasion. These light snacks can be some cookies or breads, though it isn’t limited to those foods.

While the dogs are the main focus – the VIDs (Very Important Dogs) – of this birthday party, you also don’t need to serve a lot of food for them. Most of their owners would have already fed them before they went to your party. Just serve them with the correct amount of tasty treats. If you want to prepare something very special for them, sprinkle small amounts of bacon, chicken or beef – the dogs will love it! It’s necessary to mix it with regular dog food so that there won’t be any harm to your pooches’ stomach.

Homemade treats will help you save money and also make the food more special but if you’re not good at preparing food, you should just opt to buy treats and snacks. Remember that you only need to serve your guests with the right amount of food so don’t overdo it. It’s also an obvious thing to do but make sure that you separate the snacks of your human guests from the treats of your dog guests. We have plenty of recipes that you can find in our article on homemade dog treats.

Birthday cake tips

What would a birthday be without a birthday cake? It wouldn’t be a birthday! Eating the birthday cake is the most awaited part of any birthday celebration. Blowing the birthday candle signifies that your dog is now officially a year older. Have two cakes ready for your party. One of the cakes would be for you and the other human guests to feed on while the other cake is for the dogs in your party to feast on.

After all, you’re not only celebrating your dog’s birthday party with other dogs but humans, too – you can’t have everyone share a single cake! It would be unhygienic and disastrous. These cakes can either be bought from a pet store and a bakery or made at the comforts of your own home.

It’s going to be a sweet thought if you’re the one who will bake the birthday cakes for your baby’s party. It’s easy enough to provide a cake for your human guests as they’ll simply have the traditional cakes that you usually eat. Because dogs don’t react well to sugar or chocolate, try to bake a cake for them made with meat.

It would be very appealing to them! You can also place icing on the cake with yogurt, cream cheese or peanut butter because these ingredients are good for your dog. If you plan to add nuts to the cake make sure to chop them into small sizes – it would be easier for them to digest that way. If you’d like a great recipe for making a cake for your dog, check out this article on how to make a dog cake.

To be safe, don’t use candles for your dog’s birthday cake. Opt for dog treats instead. These dog treats would substitute as your dog’s candle. Not only would it be safer for everyone, it would also be more pleasing for your dog. Make sure that you cut the cake in small slices to avoid over-feeding your dog. Even if your cake is dog-friendly, it’s never a good idea to over-feed them. Finally, give everyone equal shares of the birthday cakes so that you can all enjoy it.

Activities for entertainment

No one likes a boring party and your birthday celebration will be if the only activities you have are eating and chatting. To entertain your guests as well as your dog, prepare some activities to make everything more interesting.

Here are some activities that both your human and dog guests can enjoy:

Best sit, stay, rollover, shake-a-paw contests Have every owner and dog join and see which pair has the best trained dog. The winner will not only receive prizes but also bragging rights as the most trained dog!

Best dressed dog Since you already have a theme for your dog’s birthday party, use it to your best advantage and tell all your guests there will be a prize for the best dressed dog. It would be interesting to see what costumes your guests will wear, don’t you think?

Agility contest Set up hurdles if you have enough space in your location and let both the owners and their dogs play. It would make the celebration more entertaining because everyone would be cheering.

Frisbee game Dogs are the masters of the Frisbee game. Don’t end your party without checking out the Frisbee skills of your other dog guests. Ask for some tips from the winning dog’s owner!

Musical chairs for dogs (trip to Jerusalem dog version) Musical Chairs is the stationary birthday party game. Revamp this traditional game with a new twist – let the owners hold their pets as they try to sit on the chair!

Token giveaways

Token giveaways are great but this part is optional. If you have enough money, why don’t you provide your guests with loot bags and souvenirs so that they can remember this special occasion? You can provide loot bags with treats for the dogs and practical items like a dog bowl with your dog’s name imprinted on it.

If you are on a budget – who says that you can’t have a giveaway? Prepare your camera, buy films with decorated paw prints and take group pictures with the guests. At the end of the day, give it out to your guests with the date of the celebration neatly written on the bottom of the picture.

Token giveaways can serve as thank you gifts for your guests. After all, the celebration wouldn’t have succeeded without them. They came and celebrated your dog’s birthday party. Give them the appreciation that they deserve.

At the end of the day, celebrating your dog’s birthday with a party is a milestone in his life. He may not have words to say it but for sure, he will appreciate you for the celebration. So few dogs actually celebrate their birthdays and if you celebrate your dog’s birthday, he’ll feel the love and both of you will have a closer bond. Your time and effort – despite all the extravagances of the birthday party – would matter the most to him and it would undoubtedly be the best gift that he’ll ever receive!

Emily is originally from China where she graduated from The University of Hong Kong with high distinction learning about fashion and design. During university she opened her own magazine about Dog Fashion as dogs were always in her heart. She was surprised, when she moved to a beautiful British Columbia 10 years ago, to see many great Boutiques with dog's designer clothing and desire of pet owners to make their babies look nice.

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